Skate apparatus

ABSTRACT

A displacement apparatus is provide for skating footwear such as in-line roller skates. The displacement apparatus has extension triggers, each of which is connected to respective rod members that releasably retain the rollers in a retracted position, and a retraction trigger connected to a slidable rod member that releasably retains the rollers in an extended position. Manual operation of the extension triggers and retraction trigger allows extension or retraction of the in line rollers as required. When retracted, the rollers are conveniently housed within a cavity in the underside of the shoe to thereby allow normal walking.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

THIS INVENTION relates to a displacement apparatus applicable to skatingfootwear. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus forretracting and extending one or more rollers, wheels or blades into acavity within the sole of a skating shoe, without being limited thereto.This invention enables a wearer of skates to retract or extend therollers, wheels or blades, thereby allowing normal walking use orskating use of the shoe as required.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recreational and sporting footwear such as roller skates, ice skates,rollerblades and the like are well known. It has also been known tocreate footwear which can function both as a skate and as a shoesuitable for walking without impediment by the skate. To this end,skating footwear have been developed whereby the rollers or skates aredisplaceable between a ground-engaging, extended position for skating orrollerblading, and a retracted position which allows normal walking.

Typically, footwear incorporating a retractable skate have a recess orcavity in the underside or sole of the footwear which houses the skatewhen retracted. Retraction of the skate into the recess, and extensionout of the recess into a ground-engaging position, enable selection ofnormal walking use or skating use respectively.

Skating footwear having retractable and/or extendible skating means arevariously described, for example, in International Publication WO01/85271, International Publication WO 00/16862 and U.S. Pat. No.5,803,469

However, many such displacement apparatus for skating footwear arecumbersome to operate, difficult and costly to manufacture and are proneto inadvertent retraction of the skating means during skating use. Thislatter problem can lead to a skater being injured. The generalacceptability and commercial appeal of skating footwear of the typehereinbefore described has been compromised by some of all of theaforementioned deficiencies.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present inventor has sought to overcome the generally cumbersome andcomplicated apparatus of the prior art by inventing a simple, easy touse and safe apparatus for displacing rollers, wheels or skates ofskating footwear from a retracted position to an extended position, andvice versa.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a displacementapparatus for skating footwear that overcomes one or more problems ordeficiencies of the prior art, or at least provides a useful andcommercially attractive alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a displacement apparatusfor footwear having a skating means, said displacement apparatuscomprising an actuating means operable to initiate pivotal displacementof said skating means, wherein said actuating means comprises one ormore retraction triggers and one or more extension triggers each ofwhich is connected to one or more respective rod members that are eachengageable with a mounting means that is mountable to an underside ofsaid footwear.

In another aspect, the invention provides skating footwear comprisingthe displacement apparatus of the first-mentioned aspect.

Suitably, said actuating means is operable to initiate pivotalretraction of said skating means into a normal walking position, and isoperable to initiate pivotal extension of said skating means into aground-engaging position.

Preferably, said actuating means comprises first and second retractiontriggers.

Preferably, said actuating means comprises an extension trigger.

Preferably, said actuating means is located in an underside of saidfootwear.

Preferably, the actuating means comprises one or more slidable rods,push-buttons or push-rods, levers, ring-pulls, pulleys, cables or thelike to facilitate manual operation of said actuating means.

The skating means may comprise one or more wheels or rollers. The wheelsor rollers may be “in-line”, such as an in-line roller shoe orrollerblades, or may be in pairs mounted to a common axle, such as intraditional roller skates.

Another skating means contemplated by the present invention is a blade,such as used in ice skates.

Suitably, the skating means is pivotally attached to the footwear.

Preferably, the skating means is pivotally attached to the footwear byway of a carriage to which the rollers, wheels or blade is/are mounted.

Preferably, the displacement apparatus mounting means is a frame,bracket, brace or the like which is mountable to the underside of theshoe. In such a case, the carriage is pivotally-attached to saidmounting means.

When retracted, said frame and wheels are housed at least partly withinan extended portion or housing in the underside of said footwear, suchas described in International Publication WO 01/85271, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention therefore provides displacement of said skatingmeans by way of a relatively simple, safe, efficient and easy to useapparatus readily adaptable to any kind of skating footwear.

Throughout this specification, unless otherwise indicated, “comprise”,“comprises” and “comprising” are used inclusively rather thanexclusively, so that a stated integer or group of integers may includeone or more other non-stated integers or groups of integers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a bottom plan view of a skating shoe with skating means inan extended position.

FIG. 2A shows a rear elevation schematic of a skating means in anextended position. FIG. 2B shows a front elevation schematic of askating means in an extended position, and FIG. 2C shows a rearelevation schematic of a skating means in a retracted position.

FIG. 3 shows a bottom plan view of a skating shoe with skating means ina retracted position.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the displacementapparatus bracket having a button to initiate retraction of the skatingmeans.

FIG. 5 shows another a perspective view of an embodiment of thedisplacement apparatus bracket having a button to initiate retraction ofthe skating means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to an embodiment shown in FIG. 1, skating footwear 10, in theform of an in-line roller shoe, comprises shoe 11 and displacementapparatus 12. Skating means 13 has three in-line wheels 14 A, B and Cwhich are rotatably mounted to parallel members 15A and 15B of carriage16 of displacement apparatus 12 via axles 17A, 17B and 17C respectively.Displacement apparatus 12 further comprises bracket 18 which is fittedinto cavity 19 in underside 20 of shoe 11. Shoe underside 20 alsoincludes scallops 21A, 21B and 21C into which wheels 14 A, B and C fitwhen retracted as in FIG. 3. As for example described in InternationalPublication WO 01/85271, shoe underside 20 has an extension or housingprojecting therefrom that provides a walking surface when skating means13 is retracted.

Displacement apparatus 12 has an actuating means 33 comprisingrespective first and second retraction triggers 25A, 25B and extensiontrigger 31 that are manually operable to initiate pivotal displacementof skating means 13.

In the extended position shown in FIG. 1, first and second rods 22A, 22Bextend into respective first and second apertures 23A, 23B located inend plates 24A, 24B of bracket 18 to assist maintenance of extendedskating means 13. First and second retraction triggers 25A, 25B includetabs 26A, 26B that are respectively connected to first and secondslidable rods 22A, 22B. To initiate retraction of skating means 13,first and second retraction triggers 25A, 25B are moved in the directionof arrows 27A, 27B by manual grasping of tabs 26A, 26B. This opposed,slidable movement of rods 22A, 22B is against the action of springs 28A,28B that are mounted to first and second rods 22A, 22B respectively andbear against respective collars 29A, 29B. In this position, tab 32 ofextension trigger 31 bears against collar 29C.

As best seen in FIGS. 2A and 2B, carriage 16 pivots about pin 30 thatextends between end plates 24A, 24B of bracket 18. Thus carriage 16 andwheels 14A, 14B and 14C mounted thereto are capable of pivotal movementrelative to stationary bracket 18. During retraction, carriage 16 andskating means 13 mounted thereto rotate into cavity 19 into a retractedposition such as shown in FIG. 1. Third rod 23C moves pivotally alongthe path indicated by the solid arrows in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Referring now to FIG. 3, to complete retraction of skating means 13,third rod 22C extends into third aperture 23C of bracket 18 assisted byspring 28C that bears against collar 29D. Third rod 22C thereby assistsmaintenance of skating means 13 in the retracted position shown in FIG.3.

To initiate extension of skating means 13, extension trigger 31comprising tab 32 connected to third rod 22C is moved in the directionof arrow 27C so that third rod 22C is disengaged from aperture 23C.Carriage 16 is then rotated out of cavity 19 in underside 20 of shoe 11to the extended position shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A. As best seen inFIG. 1, springs 28A and 28B respectively act to assist extension offirst and second rods 22A, 22B into respective first and secondapertures 23A, 23B in bracket 18 to assist maintenance of skating means13 in an extended position. Extension of skating means 13 is assisted byhairpin springs 34A, 34B.

It will be appreciated that tabs 26A, 26B, and 32 provide a meanswhereby respective retraction triggers 25A, 25B and extension trigger 31can be readily grasped for manual operation such as between a thumb andforefinger. However, the skilled person will realize that a variety ofother graspable means could be used such as rings, hooks, blocks or padswith indents or surface contouring that allow grasping for manualoperation.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown an embodiment ofdisplacement apparatus 112 of skating footwear 110 having actuatingmeans 133 comprising button 140 mounted to bracket 118, which button 140is manually operable to assist initiating extension of skating means 113comprising three in-line wheels 114A, B and C. Actuating means 133 alsocomprises respective first and second retraction triggers 125A, 125Bwhich are manually operable by respective tabs 126A, 126B.

When manually pushed into aperture 123C, projection 141 on button 140displaces rod 122C out of aperture 123C and thereby disengages third rod122C from third aperture 123C to facilitate extension of displacementapparatus 112. Button 140 may be mounted to bracket 118 by way of screw151 engaging threaded apertures 152 and 153 or by any equivalent meanssuch as rivets or the like. Extension of skating means 113 is assistedby hairpin springs 134A, 134B (See FIG. 1).

Also shown in FIG. 4 is lug 160 that bears against carriage 116 to limitunwanted movement of carriage 116 and skating means 113 in the directionof arrow 170 when in an extended position.

Furthermore, referring particularly to the embodiment in FIG. 5, firstrod 122A and second rod 122B are opposably slidable against intermediatespring 128D which acts to retain first rod 122A and second rod 122B inrespective first and second apertures 123B.

It is also noted that in order to assist passage of first rod 122A andthird rod 122C past end plate 124A and into aperture 123C duringretraction, lead-in 180 is provided in end plate 124A.

It will be generally appreciated that the present invention issusceptible to modification and variation while staying within the broadspirit and scope of the invention. For example, the number of retractionand extension triggers, the number of rods and respective apertures canbe varied, as can the location of rods and apertures in carriage andbracket respectively.

In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides pivotaldisplacement of said skating means by way of a relatively simple,efficient and easy to use apparatus readily adaptable to any kind ofskating footwear, and which allows rapid interconversion of suchfootwear between walking use and skating use.

In particular, the present invention provides a displacement apparatusthat allows optimal clearance between skating shoe and ground whenextended, while allowing complete retraction of the wheels or skatesinto the shoe underside. Furthermore, the displacement apparatus of thepresent invention is less prone to accidental or unintentional movementfrom a extended position to a retracted position and vice versa.

It should also be understood that the invention is not limited to theparticular combination of features described in detail herein, and thatvarious modifications and departures may be made which nevertheless fallwithin the broad scope of the invention as set forth herein.

1. A displacement apparatus for footwear having a skating means, saiddisplacement apparatus comprising a mounting bracket and an actuatingmeans operable to initiate pivotal displacement of said skating means,wherein said skating actuating means comprises one or more retractiontriggers, each of which is connected to one or more respective rodmembers that releasably engage respective apertures in said mountingbracket to thereby retain said skating means in an extended position;and one or more extension triggers, each of which is connected to one ormore respective rod members that releasably engage respective aperturesin said mounting bracket to thereby retain said skating means in aretracted position.
 2. The displacement apparatus of claim 1, comprisingfirst and second retraction triggers respectively connected to first andsecond slidable rod members.
 3. The displacement apparatus of claim 2,wherein said first and second slidable rod members are releasablyengageable with said respective apertures.
 4. The displacement apparatusof claim 3, wherein said retraction triggers are each manually operableto disengage said slidable rod members from said respective aperturesand thereby initiate retraction of said skating means.
 5. Thedisplacement apparatus of claim 2, wherein said first and second rodmembers are opposably slidable.
 6. The displacement apparatus of claim1, comprising a single extension trigger connected to a slidable rodmember which, when said skating means is in a retracted position,releasable engages said aperture in said displacement apparatus.
 7. Thedisplacement apparatus of claim 6, wherein said extension trigger ismanually operable to disengage said slidable rod member from saidaperture to thereby initiate extension of said skating means.
 8. Thedisplacement apparatus of claim 7, wherein said extension triggerincludes a manually operable button comprising a projection that isoperable to disengage said slidable rod member from said aperture.
 9. Adisplacement apparatus for footwear having a skating means, saiddisplacement apparatus comprising a bracket mountable to an underside ofsaid footwear which comprises first, second, and third apertures and anactuating means operable to initiate pivotal displacement of saidskating means, wherein said actuating means comprises first and secondretraction triggers respectively connected to first and second slidablerod members which, when said skating means is in an extended position,respectively releasably engage said first and second apertures in saidbracket and are each manually operable to disengage said first andsecond slidable rod members from said respective apertures to therebyinitiate retraction of said skating means; and an extension triggerconnected to a third slidable rod member which, when said skating meansis in a retracted position, releasably engages said third aperture insaid bracket; said extension trigger including a manually operablebutton comprising a projection that is operable to disengage said thirdslidable rod member from said third aperture to thereby initiateextension of said skating means.
 10. A displacement apparatus mounted toan in-line roller shoe, said displacement apparatus comprising amounting bracket mounted to an underside of said roller shoe whichcomprises first, second and third apertures; and an actuating meansoperable to initiate pivotal displacement of in-line wheels, whereinsaid actuating means comprises first and second retraction triggersrespectively connected to first and second slidable rod members which,when said in-line wheels are in an extended position, respectivelyreleasably engage said first and second apertures in said bracket andare each manually operable to disengage said first and second slidablerod members from said respective apertures to thereby initiateretraction of said skating means; and an extension trigger connected toa third slidable rod member which, when said in-line wheels are in aretracted position, releasably engages said third aperture in saidbracket; said extension trigger including a manually operable buttoncomprising a projection that is operable to disengage said thirdslidable rod member from said third aperture to thereby initiateextension of said skating means.
 11. Skating footwear comprising thedisplacement apparatus of either claim 1 or claim
 9. 12. Skatingfootwear of claim 11, whereby the skating means comprises three, in linewheels.
 13. Skating footwear of claim 12, wherein said skating means ishoused substantially within the underside of said footwear whenretracted.